SCOPS-OWL. 175 



Wexford. In Scotland one example is on record which was 

 shot in Sutherland in May or June, 1854. The story of 

 this species having bred in Castle-Eden Dene in Durham 

 has obtained wide currency but hardly requires serious con- 

 tradiction. 



This little species is almost confined to the temperate and 

 warmer parts of Europe and to North Africa. It does not 

 visit Scandinavia and is rare in Holland, Belgium and North 

 Germany. The limits of its eastward range cannot be 

 traced. There is a specimen from Gurieff, at the mouth of 

 the Volga, in the Leyden Museum, and Major Irby saw it in 

 the Crimea. Messrs. Elwes and Buckley state that it is not 

 uncommon near Constantinople, where it breeds ; but they 

 did not observe it elsewhere in Turkey. In Greece Dr. 

 Lindermayer says it breeds in small numbers in Attica but 

 not in the Peloponnesus. In the Cyclades Dr. Erhard 

 states that it is common and resident ; but in Corfu Col. 

 Drummond-Hay noticed that it arrived about the 15th of 

 April and Lord Lilford observed it there so late as the 17th 

 of November. In Palestine it is a migrant, returning in 

 spring. It is a bird of passage in Egypt, and extends to 

 Sennaar and Abyssinia in winter. Under the name of 

 Maroof it is well known all over Algeria, where it breeds. 

 Returning to Europe it is by no means rare in Portugal, and 

 in Spain is everywhere abundant, even haunting the towns, 

 where its clear ringing note may be nightly heard.* It is 

 not common in France though occurring yearly, and even 

 breeding, says Vieillot, near Paris. In Provence some pass 

 the winter, but by far the greater number leave the country 

 in autumn, at which time they are remarkably fat, and 

 return at the beginning of April. In Italy, in like manner, 

 it arrives in spring and breeds, but in Sardinia it is said by 

 Dr. Cara to be stationary. 



This Owl is remarkable for the constancy and regularity 

 with which it utters its plaintive and monotonous cry sound- 



* Lord Lilford was told by a Spanish lady that in Andalucia this species and 

 the Barn-Owl entered the churches to drink the oil in the lamps kept burning 

 there, and that it accordingly behoved all good Christians to kill them ! 



